Endless pusher conveyer



ENDLES S PUSHER CONVEYER Filed April l2, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet l @allier OMSfone cu# @formen @C 900i i115 July 22,1947.- H. L. WAmNS ET Al. 2,424,292

ENDLESS PUSHER CONVEYER Filed April, l2, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Snventovg Waker OWL 'tConegcuit July 22, 1947 H. L. wATKlNs A15T AL 2,424,292

u `ENDLEss PUSHERGONVEYER f Filed April 12, 1945 Sheets-Sheet -5 ZMSLHWMQ Patented July 22, 1947 ENDLESS PUSHER CONVEYER Harmon L. Watkins and Baker M. Honeycutt, Shreveport, La.

Application April 12', 1945, Seri'aI'No.` 587,932

2l Claims.

Our invention relates to endless conveyors- An` object ofV our invention is to provide an endless conveyor wth universalv anchoring means which will permit the conveyor both to assume positions resulting from changes in the vertical position of a barge or other boat and assume 1ongitudinally acliusted` positions incident to longitudinal movements ofthe barge or other boat that occur during the operation of unloading such barge or boat.

Another object of our invention is to. provide an endless conveyor especially adapted for raising drums, barrels or other round objects by a method of rolling the objects up: suitable guides forming a part of the conveyor to do away with all strain andY wear on the conveyor chains themselves except as incident to the actual pushing force needed to roll the barrels or the like up the guides.

Another object of our invention is to provide an endless chain conveyor with tracks located on both its upper side and also its lower side positioned to support the weight of thef entire length of the chains and chain attachments incorporated in our conveyor to make a compact conveyor and also to minimize the strains the chains are subject to under operating conditions.

Another object of our invention is to provide an endless conveyor designed to' roll barrels or the like in upwardly slanting directions on guide rails forming a part of the conveyor and which may also be operated to slide flat cases or packages upwardly.

Another object of our invention is to provide in an endless conveyor a safety stop which will check the downward movement of an object being lifted by the conveyor if for any reason the driving mechanism of the conveyor becomes dis'- engaged or broken in a manner to allow the object being lifted by the conveyor to roll or slide down the conveyor.

Other objects and advantages. of our invention will appear in our detailed description to follow of the conveyor embodying our invention shown illustrated in our accompanying drawings.

Applicants are aware that endless conveyors are known to the art, but, as far as they are aware, none of the prior art conveyors are designed t'o roll barrels upwardly on guide rails: or

the like, nor are they provided with other featuresV of novelty which applicants' have mentioned above in their statement of objects of. their invention.

In thel drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation: View of' an endless conveyor embodying applicants invention shown man1 operating position with its lower end resting on a barge and its upper end resting on a dock platform.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the endless conveyor illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary viewV oflaportion of the endless conveyor illustrated in Figure 1.

Figurel illustrates a modification of the lower end. portion of the endless conveyor illustrated in Figure l and,

Figure 5v is a diagrammatic View illustratinga.

mode of operation of the' endless conveyor illustrated in Figure 1.

I andrfrom which a pair of supporting feet I2 depend, and thel lower sections |01 connected together by' cross members hl. Supporting legs I5- are. welded or otherwise attached to the side plates I0 and sI-01 respectively. The lower ends of the supporting legs I5v are joined together by crosswise extending base members I6.-

Rollerl tracks made up'of upper track sections I'Ilr andV lower track sectionsv I'h are carried by the base members I6. These tracks, upper sectionsv IIwandnlower sections Ill, are used to support the weight of. movable chain members of our conveyor, lthefuses ofV which will be explained in more detail further on inour description.

Twopairsf of uprights I9 are Welded or otherwiseI attached to' the side plates Illu and Hh and rein-forced by angle braces; 22 connected to the upper" ends- 2l' of the uprights IF! and upper side pla-tes titi and lower side plates Illi. The leg porv-A tion-S20*Y of the uprights I9 are joined together by basemembers I6: Theupper portions 2| of the uprights I9"serve as supports for the safety'stops 23 which are rotatably mounted in the upper end portions 2l of the4 uprights I9, bymeans. of axle :barsi'' forming part of same. Each safety stop 2.3: includes a pair or stop'V bars 2lin which extend at right angles. tothe axle bar' 24. The

stop bars 25 ofV each' safety stop 23 are made long enough torest on the upper side of a cross member` IrlL when the safety stop 23 is'in its stopping.. position..A TheA further operation of these` safety stops will` beLeXplained later on. in connection withv the operationzof thev illustratecf endless conveyor.

A lpair of; spaced" guide rails made in uppersec.- tions 26x11 and lower? sections 261.', which may be y r'na'de` cuti of pipefiftdesired; are wel'd'edor other* ent to the reader in the course of our description 1 of the moving parts of our conveyor.

The bottom sections of the side plates |01 to-v gether with the lower sections of the guide railsV 261 and the lower section of the floor plate 281 and the lower track section |11, all of which lare ioined together turn as a unit about hinge pins incassa 4 rected to Figure 3 of the drawings. Our conveyor is anchored to a dock D or other loading platform by means of a hollow stanchion 36 which is secured to the dock floor preferably with lag bolts 31. The stanchion 36 is provided with oppositely positioned circular slots 38 through which a locking pin 39 extends. The locking pin 39 extends also through a T pipe tting 40 which is rotatably mounted in the upper end of the hollow stanchion 36. Thel locking pin 39 and the slots 38 limit the horizontal rotary movement of the T tting 40 and our endless conveyor which turns with the VT fitting 40. The weight of the upper end of our endless conveyor is supported through means of j on metal plates 43. The shaft 4| also extends I8 on the upper sections |011 of the side plates with which the upper sections 2611 of the guide rails, the upper section 2811 of the floor plate and the upper sections |111 of the roller tracks are joined into a unit.

Before the lower section of the conveyor described above can be raised, the clamping plates 29 held in place by bolts 30, which clamping plates 29 span the abutting ends of the side plates |011 and |01, must be removed.

The principal purpose of the folding feature of our conveyor is to make it convenient to remove the'part of it projecting over the body of water when the unloading operation of the barge B or otherboat; is completed. Maritime law demands that after a. barge or boat has been unloaded everything in the nature of gangplanks and other unloading equipment be moved entirely back from over the surface of the water so that such equipment would no longer constitute a hazard to other barges and boats.

If necessary, the lower end ofthe upper section of our conveyor may be rested down on the lower platform of the dock D illustrated to bring the lower section farther inward from the edge of the water when the lower section is folded toward it by means of a block and tackle T hung from the overhead support S.

Another purpose of the folding feature of Vour conveyor is to make it more compact; in shipping it 'cna truck or flat car from place to place. The reader should understand that due to the novel anchoring feature of our endless conveyor, which will be explained later, the conveyor as a whole may be lifted up or down by the block and tackle T, if desired. i The reader should understand also that preferably the conveyor may be supported under one or more of the base members I6 whenever conditions provide suitable supporting foundation under the middle portion of the conveyor. The side plates |011 and |01 of the conveyor are made strong enough, however, to carry the load imposed upon them without benefit of a middle support.

We provide foot rollers at the lower ends of the lower sections |01 of the side plates for our endless conveyor to rest on the floor of a barge B or the like. The foot rollers 35 are rotatably mounted in roller casters 3| bolted to the lower sections |01 of the side plates. The roller casters 3| are provided with skid supporting bars 32 in their top surfaces and are provided with transversely extending chain axle bearings 33 and lift axle bearings34, the use of which will become apparent in the latter part of our description.

To best; understand the anchoring feature of our endless'conveyor, the readers attention is diloosely through the T fitting 40 positioned in between the supporting feet I2 in which the shaft 4| is rigidly secured.

The metal plates 43 on which the rollers 42 rest are supported by wood constructions W built up to the proper height on the floor of the dock D or other unloading platform.

YDfueto the fact that the shaft 4| is rotatably mounted in the T fitting 40, the lower end of the conveyor resting on the barge B may be raised or lowered in vertical directions as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1 of the drawings. The height of the barge floor will change as the load on thev barge B changes, The height of the barge B itself with respect to the unloading dock D will change in accordance with a rise or fall of the water the barge B is floating in. Such changes may be due to tides or, in the case of streams. to the rise and fall due to rain and other causes.

Within the limits allowed by the locking pin 39 and the slots 38 through which it extends, the conveyor may swing from side to side, as shown by the dotted line positions in Figure 2 of the drawings. The rollers 42 will roll easily on the metal plates 43. When the barge B is moved to and from the bank of a stream or other body of Water, the floor of the barge B merely moves under the foot rollers 35.

Our description thus far has been concerned mainly with the frame work of Our endless conveyor and the means for anchoring the same to the dock D. or the like.

Our endless conveyor is provided with a pair of endless `conveyor chains 44 4which loop completely around the abutting side plates |011 and |01. The upper faces of the side plates |011 and |01 function as tracks for the endless conveyor chains 44 to slide on in their upward travel of the conveyor in performing useful Work. The entire weight of the chains 44 in their return trips down the under side of the conveyor is carried by a pair of spaced roller tracks made in upper roller track sections I 111 and lower roller track sections |11. When the pushing rollers 51 travel down in these tracks |111 and |11, they hold up the conveyor chains 44 above the base members I6.

The endless conveyor chains 44 are driven by means of Van electric motor P or other source of power mounted on the motor supporting frame which is operatively connected to a reduction gear 46 by an endless driving belt 45. The reduction gear 46 includes a power take-off shaft 41Y provided with.,a driving sprocket 48 on its outer end. The driving sprocket 43 is connected by an endless driving chain 49 to a driven sprocket 50 mounted on an end of the upper conveyor chain sprocket axle 5|. The upper conveyor chain sprocket axle I., which. is ,rotatably mounted in the bearing lugs I3 bolted to the upper ends ofthe upper side plate sections Illu, carriesA a pair of conveyor chain sprockets v52 whichare enmeshed with the-right and left conveyor chains 44.v The conveyor chains 44 are enrneshed with a duplicate pair of` conveyor chain sprockets 52 mounted on the lower conveyor chain sprocket axle 54. The conveyor chain sprocket axle 54 is rotatably mounted in the chain axle bearings 33 in the foot roller casters 3l. The pairs of conveyor chain sprockets 52 are positioned with respect to the side plates Illu and Ii to make use of the upper faces of the same to serve as supporting tracks for the conveyor chains 44 to slide on.

The conveyor chains 44 travel in unison, since they are joined together by means of pusher `axles 55 which are positioned to travel above and below the side plates Iu and `H31 by means of pusher axle supports 56 secured to the conveyor chains 44. Each pusher axle 55 carries a pair of rotatably mounted pushing rollers `51 and a pushing plate 53 positioned between the pushing rollers 51.

The pushing plate 58 is adapted to push a case C or other at object up the floor plate sections 281 and 28u.

The pushing rollers 51 are adapted for rolling a round object such as a drum M up the guide rails `261 and 26u of our endless conveyor. The reader will see in the perspective view, Figure 5, how a drum M is rotated in a clockwise direction as it is being pushed upwardly on the conveyor. The pushing rollers 51, which are in contact with the drum M, are rotated in the reverse direction.

When the drum M is pushed under a safety stop 23, it lifts the safety stop 23 and passes under it. As soon as the drum M passes by the safety stop 23, the stop bars 25 fall down and rest on the cross member I4 in a safety position. If for any reason the drum M starts rolling back down the guide rails 26u and 261, it will merely strike the stop bars 25 and come to rest. We have illustrated a machine equipped with two safety stops 23. The reader will understand that one stop 23 with a short conveyor would be sufcient and that a greater number than two safety stops 23 may be employed in long conveyors, if desired, within the scope of our invention.

When the drum M is rolled to the top of the conveyor, it is carried away on a pair of unloading rails U conveniently located. The unloading rails U form no part of our invention. The reader will appreciate that the drum M, barrels, or cases C lifted by our conveyor might be delivered to a floor surface in alignment with the upper end of our conveyor, if desired.

The readers attention is now directed to Figure 1 and Figure 2 of the drawings in which he will see a removable loading skid 6I] which con stitutes a very useful part of our invention, but not an essential part of it. The purpose of the skid 60 is to make it easy for a crew to place a drum M on the guide rails 261 in a position so that it rests on the foot stops 21. The drum M stays in this position until a pair of pushing rollers 51 is brought into Contact with the drum M. If the drum M is light, one or two of the crewmen might merely lift it up onto the guide rails 261. If the case C is light enough, the crew may merely place it on the lower end of the floor plate 281 in a position to be contacted by a pushing plate 58 on a pusher axle 55. The loading skid. Iiillustrated is. made up of apair 2f-cross.

bars 6 I, a pair of side bars 62 terminating in flair,l

is provided with anv anchoring hook 66 adapted to hook over therv skid supporting bars 32. The centerbars 6.4 are spaced on the crossibars. 6I so as to be aligned with the guide rails 261 when the skid 60 is anchored.

In Figure 4 of our drawings we have illustrated a loading device which may be used in place of the loading skid 6|! above described. This loading device consists in a lifting rack comprising a pair of lifting arms 10 firmly attached to a common axle 1| which is rotatably mounted in the lift axle bearings 34; and an operating lever 12 welded to the axle 1I by which means the axle is turned. A cathead 13 is mounted on the right end of the lower conveyor chain axle 54 and adapted to rotate therewith. A rope 14 is attached to the end of the operating lever 12 and should be long enough to be wrapped around the cathead two or more times. Thus it can be seen that the lifting arms 10 may be made to move from a normal resting position on the floor of the barge B into a loading position as shown by the dotted lines.

A crew-man in operating this lifting device first rolls the drum M by hand onto the lifting arms 10. Then he pulls on the free end of the rope 14 wound several times around the cathead 13 to create sufficient friction to make the rope 14 wind up on the cathead 13. As the rope 14 winds up on the cathead 13, the lifting rack 10 is revolved upwardly toward the lower end of our endless chain conveyor to bring the drum M up withit to a point where the drum M will roll down onto the guide rails 261 above the foot stops 21. When the operator relaxes the rope 14, the lifting rack 10 falls down again onto the floor of the barge B or the like and the drum M rolls back a slight distance to its position of rest against the foot stops 21 where it waits to be pushed by a pair of pushing rollers 51 and to be rolled up on the guide rails 261 in the manner above described.

Various changes in the size and arrangement of the parts of the illustrated conveyor may be resorted to within the scope of our invention.

Since the manufacturing details of our conveyor present no problems to the mechanical arts with which it is related, no need is here Seen to go into the details of its manufacture.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. An endless chain conveyor comprising a frame, a pair of spaced parallel guide rails mounted on said frame on which a drum or the like is adapted to be rolled, a floor plate mounted between said guide rails on said frame on which a flat sided object is adapted to be slid, a pair of parallel endless chains rotatably mounted on said frame parallel to said guide rails, means for rotating said chains, said chains being joined together by one or more axles, each of said axles carrying a pair of pusher rollers positioned in vertical alignment with said guide rails, said pusher rollers being adapted to roll a drum or the like up said guide rails, each of said axles carrying a pusher plate positioned between said pusher rollers and adapted to slide a flat object up said floor plate.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 including a pair of foot stops positioned at the lower ends of said guide rails Vadapted to hold a drum or the like 7 8 placed on said guide railsrin the path of said Y pusher rouers Y UNITED STATES PATENTS HARMON L. WA'I'ICINS.V Number Name l Date BAKER M. HONEYCUTT. 1,095,255 Williams May 5, 1914 1,247,388 French Nov. 20, 1917 REFERENCES CITED 5 1,382,557 -Schpatz June 21, 1921 The following references are of record in the 1,418,572 Hoyt et a1 JuneAG, 1922 le of this patent: Y 2,357,600 Pabst Sept. vv5, 1944 

